Textile fiber drafting frame



Aug. 19, 1952 w. F. BIRD 2,607,083

TEXTILE FIBER DRAFTING FRAME Filed Nov. 17, 1948 2 SI-IEETS-SHEET 1INVENTOR: l'gfiworiizlfltmi, By @z a? m A TTORNEYS.

A 19, 1952 w. F. BIRD 2,607,083

7 TEXTILE FIBER DRAFTING FRAME Filed NOV. 17, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 BY42mm ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 19, 1952 2,607,083 TEXTILE- FIBER DRAFT'ING FRAME AWhitworth ErBird', sw r hm re, P s assignorfiu Collins-8c AikmanCorporation, Philadelphia Pa.,,a. corporation of DelawareApplicaticn'November 17, 1948, Serial No. 60; 534

This mventionrelates. to textile fiberproclessin apparatus such asdrafting 'jframeswhich may he used in forming rovinge'yarns and similarstrands from fibers of wool, cotton, rayon, blends of the same eithersingly Lorin combination.

More particularly; it 'isdirected to a draftframe having the usual frontdrawing .ofi rollers, a'hor- :iznuntaillv adjustable driveniroll and atop roll centered forwardly of the said adjustable driven roll. Theframe may and preferably does contain a nose bar positioned close behindthe nip of the drawing oilrollsl An'apron mayor need not "be used andwhen used'p'asses over the "nose bar, the driven roll and :about ayieldingly mounted tensioning means. My improvements are useful,

however, in all cases where substantial vertical and horizontal.adjustment :of the top roll is .required so as to maintain a closerelationship to the front rolls or the nose bar. It'is to be noted thatin the illustrated embodiments, the bottom 5 driving .roll, by beingmade adjustable horizontally, admits of maintaining "bothclose positioming between the nose bar in all adjusted positions and considerablevertical adjustment; My improvements are highly desirable this environ 5'ment.

'Diiliculty has been experienced in providing a convenient and accurateadjustment means for the top roll. The cap bar inclined slot arrangementas shown, for example, ,in Butler Patent .1

1,444,658 or Shaw 2,233,963, tends to obscure the vision of theoperator, requires more parts and is inconvenient =ior making either agreat number of adjustments-across the frame or iiustment ofsubstantial-size.

Also a single plane surface guide operating in conjunction with anordinary round or regular resorting to the use of securing screws andthe like. This support cooperates with the top roll shaft to cause it tofollow an arcuate or curved path and thus maintain 'a predeterminedspaced relationship with the nose bar or front nip in any particular adjt d position of thetop roll. This accurate ad- 12; Claims. (01.19-131)result is conveniently accomplished by themevision oi an. interm di te sppo t for the top roll shaft which support is eccen r to the bear-inscenter of the shatter by curved supp r s i h without eccentrics as willbe more fully explained.

As described in my prior- Uni ed ates Patent No. 2,471,057,, ranted May24,. 1,94 he irames shown therein pr v de for adjustment f; a slip draftroll in botha hor zo tal and vertical direction. The vertical adiustm ntmay; appr ximate from 1% to inchicra slip r llhavn i r closecontrol.

An object of my invention is to provide a nvement adjustment .icr thetop roll. capa le of substantial vertical and horizontal adjustment intopositions alon arcuate or curved path- .Anotherobiectis to provideair-adj s in mcans for a top roll of draft iramcsin-w cha ho iz taladjustable drivin bottom r011 cooperates in several adjusted positions'withzsaid top ra l. t drive thetoprollandlorzanran on. 7

Another object isto provide an adjust n means, for :a top roll of draftframes. inc udin an eccentric "which is conveniently a part oi thenormal operating parts. 1

These and other objects of invention will be manifest from aconsideration or the followi description, claims and drawings whi h;

Fig. :1 is an-elevational somewhat diagrammatic view of'my .draitirameshowing an ecc ntrica-lly mounted-top roll shaft and "the usually fixedsupport;

Fig, 2 is .a detailed. "assembly showing the relation of parts and a"central supportin arran e- -ment for the-shaft.

Fig. .3. is a modification *in-wliich -theusually fixedisupportiscurved. r

:Fig. 4. is another modification :in whichthe eccentric is bodilypivotable to effect the severa adjustments. x

In Fig. 1 Ishowithe general arrangement of two iront drawing on rolls1'0 and 1H whichform the usual front drawing 101T nip, and a pair ofback feeding-rolls Hand ;I3;i Roll I3' is a stock supporting'feed roll.The use-of r011 12 is optional when the roll 19 isaratchformingroll.Positionedibetw'een th'epairsof rolls Sisa fiber control unit comprisinga nose bar .l '4,.apron l5, and horizontally adjustable driving roller[6 having a shaft 11 journaled on frame I18. A top roll 19 which may bea solid, shell or slip roll with rigid collars 29 (see Fig. 2) forms anapron driving nip with the roller iii to drive the apron l5. A springill or other weighting means may be used to increase the apron nippressure if its own weight is insufficient. A yieldable mounted aprontensioning roll 22 pivots about 23 on frame member (8a;

The pair of top rolls supported by a shaft 25. The shaft 25 is centrallysupported, this being an old feature per se as illustrated by suchpatents as Stahlecker 2,246,474. I have found it highly desirable thatthe center of the top roll be positioned along an arcuate or curved pathin its several adjusted positions in. order to maintain a proper spacedrelationship between the top portion of the nose bar and the peripheryof the top roll. To accomplish this I provide the shaft 25 with matchedeccentrics 26. The eccentrics 28 are preferably integral with the shaft,but not necessarily so. The rolls, such as roll 21 in Fig. 2 havingprotective collars 2!! and slip draft portion 29 of pins or othermaterial more fragile than the collars, turn freely on stationary shaft25.

As will be seen from Fig. 1 the several facets 30 of polygon matchedeccentrics 26 are differently spaced from the center of the shaft 25.The usually fixed support 32 is secured to the frame l8 as by bolt 33and preferably has two inclined ledges to which the facets may beapplied or slide on. It will be seen that adjustment of the frame may beaccomplished as desired by positioning a pair of facets 30 on thesupport 32 so that the proper relationship between the nose bar andfront rolls exists. The horizontally adjustable roller I6 is then movedup into apron nip forming position. By using the corresponding facets onthe other side of the frame, the proper adjustment automaticallyresults. It will be understood that my polygon may have 3, 4, or moresides and their spacingfrom the center is correlated with theinclination of the support 32.

Fig. 3 shows a modification in which there is provided a usually fixedsupport 40 having an arcuate surface 4i concentric or slightly eccentricto a point within and close to the tip of the nose bar. If the nose barforms a quadrant or semicircle the centers may, but need not exactlycoincide.

In this modification the shaft support block 42 has concave surfacesdifferently spaced from the center of the shaft 25'. The structure mayresult in less frequent or smaller changes of the facets than that ofFig. 1. When the curve generated by the center of the top roll isregular as in a section of a circle or ellipse this modification isquite convenient. A spring may, of course, be applied as shown in Fig. 1and is omitted for clarity in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings. It will beunderstood that the short portions of the eccentric are not bearingportions, but merely connect the curves. More or less than 4 surfacesare contemplated.

Fig. 4 represents a third modification in which the eccentric member 50may bodily pivot about a member 5i fixed to the frame IS. A number ofpivot points 52 are spaced from the center of the shaft 25" when inoperating position so as to provide about vertical changes over aadjustment range with a top roll approximately 1% inches in diameter.The pivot points may be identified according to the setting they willproduce. As will be understood, the shape of the eccentric 50 will be tosome extent controlled by the position of the shaft center, and may beeither circular, elliptical or the like. Preferably the eccentric shouldbe comparatively large so as to give effective leverage for weightingmeans such as spring 2| as shown in Fig. 1.

However, in frames using a nose bar the matter of space is important andsometimes it is necessary to keep the size of the eccentric such that itdoes not greatly extend beyond the outline of the top or that it becompletely confined within this outline.

From a consideration of the above, it will be seen that I have providedbuilt-in adjustment structures for top rolls having substantial verticaland horizontal adjustment. Vertical and horizontal as used herein arebeing used in the sense of transverse and longitudinally of the path ofthe stock. The frames are frequently inclined.

It will also be seen that the most desirable setting may be obtained forthe stock as well as for machine relationships. The shaft for the toproll need not rotate and the eccentrics are optionally separate orintegral with the shaft 25. The eccentric and shaft proper is somewhatreferred to herein as an eccentrically mounted shaft assembly and thecurved path recited in the claims is intended to include irregular orsmooth curves. A straight line adjustment for the adjusting range isnotincluded nor is it adequate for my purposes.

In all the figures, the basic parts have been given the same numerals inthe interest of brevity and the parts are functionally shown forsimplicity. It will be noted, however, that the nose bars, I 4, M and[4" may vary somewhat in design. The eccentric supports are in all casespositioned laterally of the apron. This may be centrally of a pair oftop rolls as in Fig. 2 or outside the rolls as will be understood.

Having described my invention in separate embodiments, but wishing to belimited only by the scope of the following, I claim:

I i. In a drafting device for textile fibers a pair of front drawing offmembers, strand feeding means including a pair of back feed rolls, ahorizontally adjustable bottom driving roll, a top roll centeredforwardly of said bottom roll and in operative engagement therewith, asupporting shaft for the top roll, means for adjusting the horizontaland vertical position of said top roll relative to said front drawingoff members in a plurality of positions along a curved path whereby theend of the supporting shaft defines a curved path in a vertical planeaccording to its adjustment movement, said adjusting means including asupport mounted in a fixed position independent of the variousadjustment positions of the horizontally adjustable bottom roll andpositioned below the top roll shaft in supporting relationship thereto,said support having a surface disposed at an angle to the direction ofadjustment of the bottom roll for supporting said top roll shaft.

2. The drafting device of claim 1 further characterized by the fact thatthe top roll shaft supports a pair of top rolls and that the shaftsupport is centrally positioned relative to said pair.

3. In a drafting device for textile fibers a pair of front drawing offmembers, strand supporting means including a pair of back feed rolls,intermediate fiber control means, a horizontally adjustable bottomdriving roll, a nose bar, a top roll centered forwardly of said bottomroll and posi tioned in operative engagement therewith, a supportingshaft for the top roll, means for adjusting the horizontal and verticalposition of said top roll relative to said nose bar in a plurality ofpositions along a curved path whereby the end of the supporting shaftdefines a curved path in a vertical plane in accordance with itsadjusted movement, said adjusting means including a support mounted in afixed position independent of the various adjustment positions of thehorizontally adjustable bottom roll and positioned below the top roll insupporting relationship thereto and having a surface disposed at anangle to the direction of adjustment of the bottom roll for supportingsaid top roll shaft.

4. The drafting device of claim 3 further characterized by an eccentricattached to the top roll shaft, said eccentric having a plurality ofsurfaces adapted to selectively engage the said surface of the fixedsupport,

5. The drafting device of claim 4 further characterized by weightingmeans operatively connected to said top roll shaft.

6. The drafting device of claim 4 further characterized by the fact thatthe fixed support has a surface slide and that the eccentric has threeor more sides difierently spaced from the center of the top roll shaftany one of which sides may contact said surface slide.

'7. The drafting device of claim 3 further characterized by a weightingmeans operatively connected to the top roll shaft. 7

8. The drafting device of claim 3 further characterized by the fact thatthe top roll shaft supports a pair of top rolls and that said shaft iscentrally positioned with respect to said pair.

9. In a drafting device for textile fibers, a pair of front drawing oifmembers, strand feeding means includin a pair of back feeding rolls andan endless looped apron having a strand support portion, supportingmeans for the apron including a nose bar close behind the front drawing011 members, an apron tensioning roll yieldingly positioned within theapron loop, a horizontally adjustable bottom driving roll mounted withinthe loop of said apron, a top roll centered forwardly of said bottomroll and positioned above said apron in nip forming relation with saidapron and said bottom roll, a supportingshaft' position independent ofthe various adjustment positions of the bottom roll and an eccentricattached to the top roll shaft, said eccentric having a plurality ofoperative surfaces adapted to selectively engage the fixed support.

10. In a drafting devicefor textile fibers, a pair of front drawing offmembers, strand feeding means including a pair of back feeding rolls andan endless looped apron having a strand supporting portion, supportingmeans for the apron including a nose bar close behind the front drawingoff members, an apron tensioning roll yieldingly'positioned within theapron loop, a horizontally adjustable bottom driving roll mounted withinthe loop of said apron, a top roll centered forwardly of said bottomroll and positioned above said apron in nip forming relation with saidapron and said bottom roll, a supporting shaft for the top roll, meansfor adjusting the horizontal and vertical position of said top rollsupporting shaft relative to said nose bar in a plurality of positionsabove said apron along a curved path whereby the end of the supportingshaft defines a curved path in a vertical plane according to itsadjustment movement, said adjusting means including an arcuate supportmounted in a fixed position independent of the various adjustmentpositions of the bottom roll and means integral with the top roll shaftadapted to slide over the arcuate support.

11. The drafting device of claim 10 further characterized by the factthat the top rollijshaft supports a pair of rolls and that the arcuatesupport is centrally positioned relative to said pair. 12 The draftingdevice of claim 10 further characterized by the fact that the meansintesgral with the top roll shaft is concave.

WHITWORTH F. BIVIRD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS I Number Name Date 1,444,658 Butler Feb.6 19231,554,987 Butler Sept. 29, 1925 1,586,605 Butler June 1, 1926 1,697,737Simon Jan. 1, 1929 2,233,963 Shaw Mar. 4, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS I, INumber Country Date 336,986 Great Britain Oct. 17, 1930

